Cup including a compartment in the form of an inverted cup

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a cup including a dose of a pre-packaged powdered product placed inside a volume provided in the lower part of the cup, the volume being compartmented in an air- and moisture-tight manner. The invention includes a base having an inverted cup secured thereto, the base and cup forming the sealed compartment. The material of the base and the inverted cup forms a barrier that preserves characteristics of the product.

The present invention relates to a cup comprising in its lower part a quantity of product which is generally pre-packed in powdered form, each quantity being placed in a compartment which is sealed from the air and moisture, and able to be easily opened by the user.

The powdered product in question may consist of freeze-dried ingredients such as coffee, or simply of powdered foodstuffs such as chocolate, fruit juices, soup, etc. This type of cup is known, in particular with a seal sealing a lower volume of the cup, and has been used for many years. For example, it is manually, distributed in aircraft, trains, etc. The addition of hot or cold water into the cup containing the powdered product is then carried out by the hostess or steward.

Said cups may also be distributed automatically: when the user desires a beverage, the user takes out a cup from a distributor, removes the seal therefrom and fills the cup using a hot or cold water dispenser. Generally, the distributor permits the selection of the cup by the type of product contained in the sealed compartment.

In the majority of cases, the cups used are manufactured from plastics, the seal being welded, for example, onto a shoulder arranged in the lower part of the cup. At a time when there is a general awareness of the environmental impact which results from manufactured products, it appears nowadays that the use of plastics for producing cups involves a number of disadvantages, from the point of view of production as well as that of recycling.

Attempts have been made, therefore, to produce cups from more ecologically sound materials, for example from cardboard, yet still comprising a sealed internal compartment for storing the quantity of powder. More specifically, in the known cups, the seal is made, for example, from aluminium, a material which ensures the best seal from the air and moisture, and thus makes it possible to preserve the flavour of the products.

To this end, the fixing of said seal to the area containing the freeze-dried product obviously also has to achieve a hermetic seal. In plastic cups, the fixing is carried out by welding the seal, for example, onto a shoulder.

Moreover, cups are available of which the body is made of cardboard, onto which it is naturally not possible to form a weld, and in which this problem is resolved by inserting a plasticised capsule sealed by an aluminium seal. From an ecological point of view, however, the plastics capsule, which is certainly less bulky than the cup, only solves the problem posed very inadequately.

In order to be advantageous from an environmental perspective, the cup of the present invention is not made of plastics and the use of a seal made of aluminium, for example, thus poses the problem of fixing said seal to the cup, for the aforementioned reasons.

To remedy this problem, said cup, conventionally comprising a pre-packed quantity of a powdered product in a volume arranged in the lower part, said volume being sealingly partitioned from the air and from moisture, is characterised in that the cup is made of cardboard and comprises a base to which a small inverted dish is fixed, forming with said base the sealed compartment, the material of the base and of the small dish forming a barrier preserving the characteristics of the product.

Relative to plastics, cardboard is nowadays recognised as an alternative which contributes to preserving the environment, as the recycling thereof is simple and low-polluting. The use of cardboard for producing the cup thus appears to be perfectly natural, except that cardboard does not provide the required seal from the air and moisture.

It is necessary to resort to a so-called “barrier” material, the quality thereof depending on the susceptibility to deterioration of the product enclosed in the compartment. Aluminium, which is cited as a matter of preference as it constitutes a barrier of the highest quality, is not the only solution.

The use of a simple aluminium seal, as in the prior art, is, moreover, not sufficient since a part of the compartment containing the product remains defined by the cardboard walls of the cup. Finally, joining the cardboard and such a seal poses the problem of the weld which also has to be of sufficient quality to ensure a seal between the two materials.

The invention provides a solution which is original both in the use of materials and in the shaping thereof.

With the object of facilitating the welding operation, the small dish may also have a planar flange. This edge, bearing in a planar manner against the flat base of the cup, permits the use of a weld in the same conditions as for cups of the prior art. The annular peripheral space which thus exists between the small dish and the lateral wall of the cup is also used for other purposes, as will be shown in more detail below:

The small dish is fixed to the base, for example by heat-welding, but it may also be fixed by induction welding or bonding, according to a conventional operation for this type of cup.

According to one possibility:

-   -   the base is made of cardboard/aluminium composite material, the         aluminium layer being oriented towards the inside of the cup;     -   the base is covered on at least one face with at least one         coating made of synthetic material; and p1 the small dish is         made of aluminium.

Thus, the cardboard/aluminium composite base and the small aluminium dish make it possible to produce a compartment of which all the faces are made of aluminium. Moreover, the existence of a coating made of synthetic material makes it possible to produce the weld in conditions enabling the required seal to be provided.

Alternatively, the base and the small dish may be selected from the following materials: polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, etc.

Said material may also be metallised and/or arranged in the form of film on a paper layer, etc. More generally, as indicated above, any material forming a barrier is suitable.

For purely functional purposes, and as is customary, the small dish may comprise a pull tab extending towards the edge of the cup. The user, when he or she removes said small dish by pulling on the pull tab, releases the powdered product before placing said powdered product beneath a (cold or hot) water dispenser.

According to one possible configuration, the cup of the invention may have a raised base creating an external recess in the lower part of the cup, the respective heights of said recess and of the shell-like portion permitting the cups to be stacked.

This stacking is, however, only possible if an annular recess is present around the shell-like portion, a recess which exists, for example, in the aforementioned case of shell-like portions having the shape of a small dish with an external planar edge.

The external recess may also be slightly flared. This makes it possible to facilitate the welding operation, since the counterpart of the welding tool thus has easier access to the wall forming the base, in order to exert its action correctly over the entire periphery of said base.

The invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view from the side of a cup according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows schematically, in section, the possibility of stacking cups according to the invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, the cup (1) comprises a first principal truncated part of which the upper edge (2) is rolled, a base (3) and a lower part (4) defining a recess (5). Said cup is made of cardboard rolled around a vertical axis (A, A′), the internal face being covered by a film made of synthetic material. The base (3) is itself made, for example, from a cardboard/aluminium composite, the aluminium forming the upper face. In this case, the aluminium is also covered by a film made of synthetic material, for example polyethylene or even polypropylene. As already mentioned, the presence of aluminium is not essential and the base and the lid could be produced from other barrier materials, such as polypropylene.

The freeze-dried powdered product is arranged between the base (3) and a small dish or shell-like portion (6), for example made of aluminium, comprising an edge with a peripheral planar flange (7) welded by heat-welding to the base (3).

The respective heights of the recess (5) made in the lower part (4) of the cup and of the shell-like portion (6) combined with the existence of a peripheral space (8) around said shell-like portion (6) permit a stacking of the cups for the most delicate products, symbolised in particular in FIG. 2. In this view, the shell-like portion (6) has an upper face which is located in the vicinity of the base (3) of the cup above.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the walls (4) of the lower part defining the volume (5) are very slightly flared, so as to facilitate the welding of the flange (7) to the base made of cardboard/aluminium composite. However, these walls could just as easily be truncated in the extension of the upper walls of the cup.

The powdered product which the cup comprises is thus accommodated in a sealed compartment defined by aluminium walls, namely, on the one hand, the aluminium face of the base (3) and, on the other hand, the aluminium shell-like portion (6) in the form of a small inverted dish.

This product is considerably more ecologically sound than the cups which are currently on the market, produced entirely or partially from plastics material. 

1. Cup comprising a pre-packed quantity of a powdered product in a volume arranged in the lower part, said volume being sealingly partitioned from the air and from moisture, wherein the cup is made of cardboard and comprises a base to which a small inverted dish is fixed, forming with said base the sealed compartment, the material of the base and of the small dish forming a barrier preserving the characteristics of the product.
 2. Cup according to claim 1, wherein the small dish has a planar flange.
 3. Cup according to claim 1, wherein the small dish is fixed to the base by heat-welding, induction welding or bonding.
 4. Cup according to claim 1, wherein: the base is made of cardboard/aluminium composite material, the aluminium layer being oriented towards the inside of the cup; the base is covered on at least one face with at least one coating made of synthetic material; and the small dish is made of aluminium.
 5. Cup according to claim 1, wherein the base and the small dish are selected from the following materials: polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene.
 6. Cup according to claim 5, wherein said material is metallised.
 7. Cup according to claim 5, wherein said material is arranged in the form of film on a paper layer.
 8. Cup according to claim 1, wherein the small dish comprises a pull tab extending towards the edge of the cup.
 9. Cup according to claim 2, wherein the base is raised creating an external recess in the lower part of the cup, the respective heights of said recess and of the small dish permitting the cup to be stacked with a second said cup.
 10. Cup according to claim 9, wherein the external recess is flared. 